ICE Just Dropped $25 Million on Iris Scanners and the Way They’re Using Them Is Already Haunting Immigrants in Chicago
A serious threat to privacy.
ICE just dropped $25 million on iris scanners, and the way they’re being used is already haunting immigrants in Chicago. The Department of Homeland Security awarded a no-bid contract to BI2 Technologies last week, a move that privacy experts say is part of a broader push to expand biometric surveillance under the agency’s mass deportation efforts.
The $25 million deal is more than five times the amount of BI2’s last contract with DHS, which was awarded last fall. Under the new agreement, DHS requested over 1,500 iris scanners, along with access to BI2’s mobile app and a database where the scans are stored. Iris patterns are unique to each person, making them as distinctive as fingerprints, and the technology is being deployed in ways that have already left detainees traumatized.
NPR details the case of Norelly Mejías Cáceres, an asylum seeker in Chicago, who experienced the technology firsthand during a raid last fall. Federal immigration officers descended on her apartment in a Black Hawk helicopter, pointing guns at her family as they slept.
Mejías fainted during the encounter
When she regained consciousness, officers pointed a smartphone at her face, demanding she open her eyes wide for a photo. She complied, her eyes swollen from crying. The scan identified her, leading to her detention and eventual deportation to Venezuela, where she now lives with her husband and son.
Nicole Hallett, law professor, University of Chicago, and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, believes the officers weren’t just taking a facial photo; they were scanning Mejías’ irises. Other detainees from the same raid reported similar experiences, with officers suddenly knowing personal details about them after the scans. Hallett says the technology was used to identify people who were illegally arrested, raising serious concerns about how ICE is deploying it.
This isn’t the first time law enforcement has used iris scanning. Sheriffs have relied on the technology for decades, and BI2’s YouTube channel features a video touting its 20-year history. During the first Trump administration, the company donated scanners to the Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Coalition, a group of sheriffs serving counties along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Justin Smith, executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association and former sheriff of Larimer County, Colorado, described how his deputies used BI2’s smartphone app in the field to quickly identify detainees without ID. The process was efficient, he said, allowing officers to confirm identities without the time-consuming fingerprint process.
But efficiency comes at a cost
Hallett argues that in the Chicago raid, the technology was used to justify illegal arrests. “The only way they were able to identify people was to illegally arrest them and then use this technology to call up their information from databases,” she said. The concern isn’t just about identification but about how the data is stored and who has access to it.
Cooper Quintin, a senior staff technologist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warns that ICE has a history of overreach. “This agency has already proven themselves to be a very rogue agency,” he said. “Could ICE start doing iris scannings of everybody they detain and then add that to their database for further surveillance? Yeah, absolutely.”
The fear isn’t hypothetical. NPR has documented cases where ICE collected DNA samples from legal observers and protesters, raising questions about whether the agency is targeting people exercising their First Amendment rights.
Marianna Poyares, a researcher at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology, points out that biometrics aren’t inherently problematic. But when sensitive data is stored in databases without clear oversight, the risks multiply. “What else is being collected? Is there any kind of oversight as to who is overseeing these databases? What kind of data is being combined and aggregated and for what use?” she asked.
DHS hasn’t provided clear answers
The iris scanners are just one piece of ICE’s growing surveillance arsenal. The agency has also deployed facial recognition technology, license plate readers, and location trackers, all funded by a budget surge in the last year. DHS says it’s using “every tool available” to find, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants, but critics argue the tools are being used indiscriminately.
DHS recently confirmed that ICE has no current contract with spyware maker Paragon Solutions. The company is known for its Graphite tool, which can remotely infiltrate devices and access encrypted messages.
The announcement came after ICE reactivated a previously paused contract with Paragon last year. This sparked backlash from Democratic lawmakers who questioned if it was complying with a 2023 executive order banning federal purchases of commercial spyware that poses security risks.
Paragon Solutions has a controversial history. Its Graphite tool was linked to a spying scandal in Italy, where journalists and activists were targeted. The company’s founders include former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and it was later acquired by an American private equity firm. ICE’s contract with Paragon was closed out in January, but DHS declined to clarify whether the agency still has access to Paragon-developed tools through a third party.
Experts warn that the extent of the agency’s surveillance capabilities remain unclear
Maria Villegas Bravo, an attorney with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called DHS’s statements about Paragon “vaguely worded” and warned that the agency’s surveillance capabilities remain opaque. Julie Mao, deputy director, Just Futures Law, called the response “a half measure and a red herring.”
Her organization is suing for records related to ICE’s Paragon contract under the Freedom of Information Act. “If it’s not Paragon spyware, then what company and spyware does ICE use? And how does ICE use it?” she asked. “The agency should provide a full account of its surveillance technologies to the American public.”
The lack of transparency is part of a broader pattern. ICE has a history of deploying invasive technologies without clear guidelines. For immigrants like Mejías, the consequences are already devastating.
(Featured image: Myotus)
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